laying tile

[SHANEFROMGA]

Does anyone have any experience laying slate granite tile ??
my wife and I are redoing the kitchen / dining area in our house , ripping up the ugly linoleum and putting down tile . 16 x 16 slate granite . we put it down sat. nite finishing at about 10pm we let it sit all day yesterday and are about to grout it this morning , and some of the tiles are loose . I used a tec brand premix adhesive that is for stone tiles . I went back to the loose ones pulled them up and put some liquid nail that is for stone and brick under them and placed them back down . will grout help sturdy up the others ?? help a budday out .
thanks .

[Chigworthy]

Does anyone have any experience laying slate granite tile ??
my wife and I are redoing the kitchen / dining area in our house , ripping up the ugly linoleum and putting down tile . 16 x 16 slate granite . we put it down sat. nite finishing at about 10pm we let it sit all day yesterday and are about to grout it this morning , and some of the tiles are loose . I used a tec brand premix adhesive that is for stone tiles . I went back to the loose ones pulled them up and put some liquid nail that is for stone and brick under them and placed them back down . will grout help sturdy up the others ?? help a budday out .
thanks .

Slate and Granite are two different things. Slate is like the puff pastry or baklava of the stone world and tends to spall off in flaky layers. If there are loose, thin layers on the bottom of a thin tile, the tile can become loose. Granite is sturdier and sort of granular, and usually has a "speckled" appearance.

When you pulled up the loose tiles, what had failed? The bond between the sub floor and the adhesive? (Also, was the adhesive a cement-based Thinset product, or a chemical (glue) adhesive?) Or was it the bond between the adhesive and the tiles? Or, like I mentioned above, did the tile "spall" off of the bottom-most layer of stone?

If the tiles pulled up with the adhesive still attached to them, your sub-floor prep was not done properly. Did you follow the directions on the adhesive to a letter? If not, you should have. If the tiles completely separated from the adhesive, leaving the adhesive firmly bonded to the floor, then the tiles were probably not cleaned properly to bond with the adhesive. Cut stone tiles tend to have a lot of stone dust from the cutting and sitting around the stone yard. If the bottoms aren't cleaned properly, the adhesive will bond to the layer of dust and not the tile. If the tiles spalled off a thin layer of itself, then chances are only a few will fail. Keep in mind that this wouldn't really happen with granite, only slate.

Grouting will offer little or no structural integrity to your floor if they are not set soundly. You really need to figure out what went wrong before you grout. Loose tiles in a high traffic area will result in the grout crumbling up and wasting your time. Also do some research on the particular stone you have before you grout. A porous stone can absorb sloppy grout work, especially if the stone is bone dry when you grout. You might want to try out grouting on a few dummy tiles adhered to a piece of plywood and see how it looks after it dries for a few days.

I'm no expert, but I've installed stone tiles on a few exterior decks before. I've done a bit of other masonry. You may want to ask someone at your local stone yard/landscape supplier for tips for your particular product.

[StanUpshaw]

Who else figured this thread was about shitting?

[cougarjake13]

Who else figured this thread was about shitting?




me

[KnoxHarrington]

I'm all about laying pipe, not laying tile.

[Chigworthy]

I'm all about laying pipe, not laying tile.

I hear you're good with funny pipe.

[Chigworthy]

natiklass just layed pipe all up in this thread.